For Nier Automata, I love that game to death but I'll never play it again because it just doesn't feel right after getting ending E. Absolute masterpiece of a game and story.
I've been wanting to play it again ever since I got ending E, but you're right, every time I think of doing it, it just feels wrong. I probably will eventually, because it is one of my favorite games of all time, but it's gonna be so weird when I do
In the early days of Cinema, films still largely resembled stage plays and vaudeville performances. Now that the medium has matured it is considered an art form. Computer games are still early as well, we’re just starting to leave the early era actually. Games borrowing a lot from movies for methods of storytelling is just a growing pain of the medium.
A good chunk of these games wouldn’t exist without Ico, which I think is THE perfect example of a medium-specific story. Fumito Ueda is a video game auteur like no other.
@@AZAMA___The creator of the Souls series literally left his job at Oracle and decided to get into the games industry after playing Ico. That game is legendary
I love your line of script where you say: “aligning the game’s protagonist, with the person holding the controller”. That really hits the nail on the head (for me) on what makes computer games such a special art form. Immersion at its finest.
I’m so glad to see TLOU here. People often label it as a “movie game”, but after watching the HBO show, I had a whole new appreciation for the little interactions during gameplay between Joel and Ellie
Some argue that The Last of Us didn’t embrace the medium at all. But I disagree, and I think it’s actually underrated in what it does well when leveraging the strengths of being a computer game. Does it borrow heavily from cinema? Yes, but honestly, I like the game a lot better than the HBO show, in terms of writing, structure and most of all, ironically, the performances.
So many people misunderstood Last Guardians nuanced controls and AI. They were complaining how hard it was to command him what to do. They entirely missed the point it was like training a pet. Videogames can tell such unique stories and it's a shame people fail to see the special things it's trying to do. Players don't "immerse" themselves. They just grind competitive games. Good video.
Yeah, it's the commercial aspect of making it fun for as many players as possible vs the artistic vision. Sadly the commercial aspect usually wins, that's why we must cherish the games made by visionaries like Ueda and Taro.
i anticipated the last guardian for years.. it sucked. playing that game was constantly questioning whether it was completely glitched or deliberately not doing anything. my character got stuck in a tree at one point for so long i had to reboot the whole thing. huge tutorial prompts were still popping up in the final minutes of the game. and beyond basic stuff like the game actually working - the narrative was dated and obvious.
@@yeahiagree1070 The boy's controls felt very floaty, no doubt about that. As for the tutorial prompts? Totally unnecessary. That said, my experience was different. Trico generally listened as long as I didn’t overload it with commands. Ueda's stories have always been simple, it's the way they are told that make them special. And that ending? I did not see it coming. SPOILERS: I fully thought Trico would die at the end.
@@GameTalesHQ i'm not even talking about interacting with the creature - i mean the game's camera controls barely functioned. the glaring technical issues ruined any potential emotional connection. it's the same narrative as ico - just worse.
What a fantastic video, you've hit the nail on the head of exactly what needs to be highlighted right now. Thank you for putting this together, I will definetely be using it to explain my obsessions in the future to people lmao
This ending of Nier Automata is probably the only time that a game made me cry with something that wasn't a sad scene, it was at that moment where I realized that this game doesn't work in other media, it needs to be a game, that's the only way the weight of the final decision can be felt
Excellent work my man. Watched a friend play through SotC the other day and they ALMOST didn't grab during the ending. I was thinking "ah that's a shame" but then at the last possible second he grabbed on to the side of the well and held on until he couldn't anymore. Perfection.
I’d highly suggest giving 13 Sentinels: Aegis Rim a try. It’s the epitome of a story that only works in the format of the game and gameplay that only makes sense in the context of the story. A genuine master class in using gaming as an art form
Team Ico's can't be expressed better in any other form of media other than games. There's something beautifully tranquil and tactile that gives breath to those masterpieces
Ueda's philosophy of design through subtraction has always worked wonders. There is absolutely no fluff in his games. Everything is there for a reason.
Jusant is a great indie game which released in the past year. It's a game basically about climbing. But the controls make you feel like you are experiencing the act of climbing throughout the whole game. It's far different than something like Assassin's Creed games where you simply push single button to automatically scale any surface. With Jusant you have to coordinate your climbing movements with various controller actions. And the game gives a sense of achievement as you progress.
Yeah, Jusant is totally in the line here : direct descendant of Journey, minimalistic and calm as an Ueda game, an eco-fable supported by a beautifully crafted science-fictionnal world. Less words, more emotions 😇
Fantastic video. Gaming is one of the best art forms out there because of the amount of immersion it is capable of achieving. Some notable examples I believe also deserve to be included in this discussion are the following: • Doki Doki Literature Club • Inscryption • Lisa: The Painful • Undertale • Hotline Miami • Fear & Hunger • Before Your Eyes • What Remains of Edith Finch • The Stanley Parable All of these titles break conventions and use video game tropes and expectations to either mess with the player or add to the story / gameplay.
Added them all to the list. I did play Doki Doki, Hotline Miami and Stanley Parable. I didn't care much for Doki but I really liked the other two games.
Doki Doki really gets that aspect once you get into digging into the game files. It's asking a little much (probably intended as a communuty riddle) but makes for nice theory videos.
I remember reading something about Alan Moore’s Watchmen. He said he wanted to write the story in such a way that it could only be properly portrayed in the form of a comic book. I think more games that are designed such that they could only be games will be what truly elevates gaming to the same level as other art forms
I’d like to add the general Xeno-series too, personally speaking. So much story and world building is done through gameplay and the Unique type of character interactions that usually only happens through the gaming medium. Also helps that games can be exorbitantly larger and more complex story-wise than most other mediums helps this game series put its best foot forward in every entry.
Dropping in to say, that I've never played nor heard of the Brothers game, but here I am, weeping at the solution to the water "puzzle". That is incredibly powerful. Wow
Yes! I’m always mentioning the twist in Brothers as a great example of how to build drama and storytelling through gameplay, and not cinematics. Journey and Ueda’s games are also already classics examples of this as well.
Great video. Its so weird how we fight the pull in Shadow of the Collosus. Like as a gamer it's clearly progression but as Wanderer I fight it for a while despite knowing its futile before eventually letting go. And I've done this every playthrough. 🤔
Journeys mp was so interesting. It was such a welcome surprise when someone would just show up when you were playing. You wouldn't see their name and could only see if you checked your recent players list You wouldn't even know how long they'd be with you. It was quite poignant
6:53 - it is not just one button press, but the game's actual mechanic. It was not just an arbitrary interaction to trigger the punchline, but the entire gameplay itself building up to it. That's why Brothers is the best video game as an artform to me.
Beautiful video! If you ever do a part 2 I'd like to suggest another beautiful small game called "Before your eyes" which uses blink detection from your webcam as the principal mean of gameplay. I don't want to spoil the story in case you want to play it
Maybe its a stretch but I felt this with trying to 100% Fate Samurai Remnant. The game has 3 endings, with the true ending locked behind completing the others with NG+. However the part that stood out to me was the revelations about the main characters personality and motivations that only get shown in NG+, and how I the player felt the same boredom and desire for a true challenge that the MC did, culminating in a bittersweet ending that really drove home the themes.
This was fantastic. I will add that Until Then is another one that fits this so well. I read 100+ books a year, but Until Then is by far the best story I've encountered this year. I have thought about it a lot and it would not have worked as either film or book. It had to be in game form. If you're willing to be patient with a slow burn story and ignore the crappy mini games along the way, I cannot recommend it enough.
While they certainly don't have the significance of the other moments mentioned in this video, there are 2 really clever uses of the medium in Simon the Sorcerer 3D (You are locked in a room with a couple of other characters and the trick of escaping is trolling one of them until he kills you and you respawn at the savepoint outside the house.) and Pony Island (During a simple text puzzle that requires you to pay attention, you are getting some fake Steam chat pop ups).
@@comradestannis To be honest, StS 3D isn't necessarily a game that I would recommend. The switch to 3D only makes the game look even older with large empty areas and NPCs straight out of Minecraft. The writing sometimes feels so cringe / bad like it is taken from some fanfiction. While you probably already know these 2 games, The Stanley Parable had some very clever moments with the interactive narrator and Undertale is just so much more than a simple game that it has been presented to the Pope as a gift.
17:33 Dishonored has a similar type of player tracking. You can beat the game without killing anyone. And you choosing to kill or not to kill not only determines the ending but it also determines how enemies react to you.
Fantastic work man, I really loved the longer length to be able to hit more games that have done it well. I also cant find a way to claim that XIII should have been included.
@ yeah it is. You’re not wrong that it’s oft forgotten about. I feel it was a major part of my life for a short sliver of time, and in the moment felt like it could last forever as a series. Now that I’ve gotten older I see that it was just a naive age and one of my first experiences with a “cliff hanger” ending that never got resolved with a sequel.
@@domhanson9167 Those couple of games that were your 'first' will always remain special, even though they're objectively not even that great. So I feel you. Sad that it never got that sequel.
Brothers really got me. Great game. And I know there’s no shortage of people gushing about RDR2 online, but it really shook me to the core. I lived as Arthur, and bonded with members of the gang. It’s a long game, but I think the length is what makes it feel so personal and epic. A tv series can be long, but doesn’t hit in the same way a game does. The Last of Us also starts the game with the player controlling Sarah. It just hits that much harder when she dies. I love video games. lol. Great video!
I'd wager that fully embracing the medium is being more branching instead of cinematic. Thus, story generators like Kenshi are the "gamiest games" imho where each player will experience a completely different story unfold: something only a game can provide.
Incredible video, made me remember inFamous 2 which has a similar thing to The Last of Us & Shadow of the Colossus, though it is more simple and straightforward. In the ending (i believe only the good ending, i am not sure, since it's been a while since i played it, because it's stuck on the PS3) it takes a game mechanic you use throughout the story to upgrade your powers - charging a sort of tool with electricity, and adds a very humane twist to it. It is the the last action you make in the game and makes the controller literally become the symbol of the medium, connecting the player to the game and fully immersing you in it. A very simple thing, but one that can stick with you and turn an overall mediocre game to a good game, to something better. Totally worth playing it through yourself, just for the ending alone
Having played most of the games featured in the video, been through various emotions these games elicit, this video made me feel the same emotions over again.
i remember i got journey for free during some holiday sale on the playstation 4 and being stuck at one point just for another person to pop up for the first time in my playthrough and go through it like they've done it before, and during the last few sequences going through them all with another person. it really was a magic experience like no other. also this made me really want to play more games so i'm looking through the timeline avoiding spoilers and noting them to see which game i'll play next
Fantastic video and could not agree more on the choices here. It’s so refreshing to come across a video on TH-cam that celebrates games as opposed to the constant rage baiting and grifting that you see all too often these days in the gaming TH-cam sphere. Great video, you earned a like and a subscription from me.
Hell yeah! The negativity is becoming way too common. While there are definitely things that need improving, they make it seem like there's nothing left to celebrate anymore.
Dragon Quest 11 is also one of these games, i think. Spoilers Below in act 2 one of two twins dies. And in her death her powers move to the other twin's skill tree. The living twin becomes incredibly strong, but also carries the resolve of her twin to finish the quest they started out on. I think this detail made the weight of her death in the player's eyes to have some finality to it. I am one of the people who played the game who thinks that Act 2 should have been the end of the game, because everything felt very complete and final.
@@deadredveloz242 I debated putting it on the list, but I didn't want to make it any longer. I personally really liked the work bench jumpscare in pt2!
I started playing Nier yestarday, had bad first impressions but decided I'll keep playing it. In the evening your video showed up (watched it up to the spoiler warning) and now I'm determined to beat Nier. I do have to say that voice acting and over the top emotional robot sounds really put me off.. As for the game mechanics that change the game, one light version of it is in Ace Combat Zero. Depending on if you let damaged enemies escape you get points to fill a style gauge, you are shown this gauge after each mission and it goes from Mercenary - Soldier - Knight and you start in the middle. Every few missions you get something like a boss fight and different style gives you different enemies, and beating the enemy unlocks their aircraft in the shop. And as for your video, it's an amazing mini documentary, I hope you keep doing stuff like this, I was immersed from start to finish!
Definitely continue playing NieR, I also don't like the typical over the top anime stuff but this game is really worth it man. The Ace Combat thing is really cool, thanks for sharing that. Ahh, glad you liked it, immersion was the thing I was going for :)
@GameTalesHQ the game has only 2 anime moments total. Both involving adam it eve and 9S. 1st with Adam taunting 2B and laughing at her as they get ready to fight, and 2nd when 9S and eve have an anime style power clash with their large fists made of scrap complete with yelling. This totals less than 10 seconds of the game. It is a non issue.
@@TrevorVeillette Oh for sure, I just meant the anime-isms. You know, the melodramatics, the explicitly saying your emotions instead of showing them etc. It's something I had to get used to. I eventually did :)
Didn't know about Nier Automata ending as I have never played it, but it sounds exactly like humanity most basic sacrifice: be saved and save others, even at the cost of our own life. It's like helping our parents when they get old, after everything they sacrificed for us, and us sacrificing for our children. Sacrifice is one of the most inspiring moves. And maybe, it's the reason why Warhammer 40k is not as crazy as it sounds in a futuristic intergalactic permanent war situation where people helps each other with anything to lose except its species.
Yoko taro is my favorite game director, or director in general, till 2020 ive never had played NieR Automata, and ive decided to give it a chance, without any expectation bc ive never seem a lot abt it, but man, its the game of my life
So glad to see Nier: Automata here, a story that could really only be told through a video game. Probably the best example I've seen of games that fully embrace the medium.
Pathologic 1 and 2 and The Void are pitch perfect games for this type of list. In addition, I would also say Disco Elysium, Majora's Mask, Alan Wake 2, maybe Inscryption.
@GameTalesHQ Disco Elysium is one where 10 different players will have 10 totally different experiences, the amount of ways to approach the game is near-unmatched, your choices and skills all actually matter down to the tiniest details. It might be the best game I've played, up there with Bloodborne, NieR Automata and Outer Wilds for sure. Pathologic 2 is another masterpiece, it's THE perfect synchronization of gameplay with storytelling and mood for me. Same with The Void, from the same developers. Ice Pick Lodge has the philosophy about game design that not all games need to be "fun" just as not all movies/music/books etc need to be "fun". Stress and negative emotions are all used as intentional storytelling and gameplay devices in their games and I love it.
@GameTalesHQ They're definitely one of the few studios that really understands the strengths and weaknesses of the medium and wants to push it forward. Also Pathologic 2 is essentially a vastly improved remake of Pathologic 1 with another entry coming next year to expand on it, I'd just play Patho 2 (and The Void too) and only try Patho 1 if you become obsessed and want more haha
Final Fantasy VII, with Sepbiroth dealing 4000 dmg with a hit during the flashback, so you can see his legendary strength when you barely make about 100 damage, or when your limit break is filled when "somebody" dies.
Amen. So many moments were made better because it was a game. The way Cloud is always telling everyone how to do stuff. The way everyone relies on him for truth. The midgar zolom. The way a tiny little secret nook in the game reveals that even what Sephorith believes about himself isn’t actually 100% true. Omnislash at the end! The date :) the way the characters stories hit harder because they are with you and you are an active participant in the story. Unlike tv where you watch and don’t participate. In games you participate. And that changes what you can do a lot. While sotc, soulsborne, hellblade etc are obvious choices; FF has a lot of great examples of video games that just wouldn’t quite be the same as a movie or show.
Great video! Got inspired to get some games from that list. 😅 I keep noticing in your videos Spec Ops: The line, on the surface it seems like something I wouldnt care about it, but this video made me really interested to give it a try.
why the absolute hell aint dark souls here. Thats literally the game i think of whenever i hear any sentence along those lines. Will note down some of these games because games like these are my favorite games.
Incredible video dude. I've never played Neir: Automata, but that ending was mind blowing. Have you played Control? I don't have the right words, but it is a very video game video game. It's fun.
TLOU is just so brilliant, and then 2 comes along and rips your soul out and reminds you of the world WE live in. A thin line between being neighbors and enemies when supplies are scarce, trust is hard to come by.
I think Rain World is a pretty good one. The game doesn't hold your hand and while it has a story, it's up to you to go out of your way to find it. Not to mention its dynamic AI ecosystem that you're also apart of, and while the creature you play as is a pretty damn intelligent species, the game makes you quickly realize that you're nowhere near the top of the foodchain. You and the AI are all just animals trying to survive and at times it feels frustratingly brutal. Sometimes you aren't quite agile enough and get snapped up by a lizard, only for it to drop you when another lizard comes along and starts a fight wanting to make you its next meal as well, and... oh shit, you're still alive, time to make a getaway while they're distracted! The game is subtle about communicating when you're for sure done for, so accidentally nudging my joystick and seeing my slugcat's eyes pop back open the first time was such a fun revelation to me.
Another game thay deserves to be here is definitely death strandung. It is a game about maaking connection not just in the story but the gameplay aswell as players place tools and items that help other players a lot and you can also like these items that are placed by the community of this game and you feel a connection with the players that you are connected with them through an 'strand' Edit: i know there is a lot of spelling mistakes but that is because my fingers are made out of butter😭
@@GameTalesHQ And I was NOT disappointed. Made me reminisce about my playthroughs, shed a tear for games I've never played or witnessed before and made me look deeper into the meaning of certain systems of games. Such a great video. I was here in the trenches, can't wait to see you reach 1 million subs one day. The sky isn't the limit, it's just the beginning!
BioShock is a game that does the same system as Metro 2033. If you save every little sister, you will get the good ending, but if you take any adam from any of them, it will result in the bad ending
True, but Bioshock was more up front about it. It was pretty obvious that you were making a choice. I liked Bioshock for its world building and its twists but I wasn't the biggest fan of the way the game handled that morality system and ending.
@@slenderman4946 Nope, just the original. I saw some scenes from the remake and I think I prefer that voice cast except for Mary. That original performance was perfect.
No game uses its interactivity to develop its characters and character relationships in such intimate and subtle ways as TLOU Part 1, Part 2, and RDR 2.
@@GameTalesHQ SotC is certainly the most epic and the one that totally changed my life as a player. I love The Last Guardian for how it pushes the limits of what a video game can be... But to be honest, ICO is the purest of them : the original gem that opened a window in our screens.
@@GameTalesHQ Ik weet dat deze video niet ging over games met meerdere endings (good ending - bad ending) maar toch moest ik even denken aan de game Tunic. Ik denk dat Tunic ook een soort plek heeft in het thema van deze video (weet niet of je het gespeeld hebt). Hoe ik het zie: Tunic beroept zich op een soort meta-bewustzijn van de speler, door de toevoeging van het nostalgische "boekje". Zo wordt je blijvend herinnerd aan het feit dat je een game speelt. Maar (SPOILER) zonder het boekje (en dus het bewustzijn "it's all a videogame") kun je het goede einde niet unlocken. Speaking of embracing the medium :)
@@elmoo88 Ik heb Tunic nog niet gespeeld, maar hij was al wel op mijn radar. Ik vind het altijd erg gaaf als meta elementen goed worden toegepast. Ik heb niet verder gelezen dan je spoiler waarschuwing, maar de game staat op m'n steam wishlist :)
![SAFEPLANET - ดาวเคราะห์ [ THE PLANET ]](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/4X1XL3I_k3c/mqdefault.jpg)
For Nier Automata, I love that game to death but I'll never play it again because it just doesn't feel right after getting ending E. Absolute masterpiece of a game and story.
I've been wanting to play it again ever since I got ending E, but you're right, every time I think of doing it, it just feels wrong. I probably will eventually, because it is one of my favorite games of all time, but it's gonna be so weird when I do
In the early days of Cinema, films still largely resembled stage plays and vaudeville performances. Now that the medium has matured it is considered an art form.
Computer games are still early as well, we’re just starting to leave the early era actually. Games borrowing a lot from movies for methods of storytelling is just a growing pain of the medium.
Yoko Taro is a genius at utilizing the medium to its fullest
One of the most unique directors we have!
A good chunk of these games wouldn’t exist without Ico, which I think is THE perfect example of a medium-specific story. Fumito Ueda is a video game auteur like no other.
Yes, ICO is so good! I felt like I had nothing more to add, so I linked Max Derrat's video on it.
Very true, many of these games creators actually mentionned ICO at some point, as an inspiration that led them to work in the industry 🤍
@@AZAMA___The creator of the Souls series literally left his job at Oracle and decided to get into the games industry after playing Ico. That game is legendary
Ueda alongside others like Kojima have set the standards for Video Game Narrative Potential.
@@calummacritchie7840 I need to catch up on Kojima's stuff, haven't played anything by him yet.
I love your line of script where you say:
“aligning the game’s protagonist, with the person holding the controller”.
That really hits the nail on the head (for me) on what makes computer games such a special art form. Immersion at its finest.
Yes! Immersion is such a key ingredient for a memorable videogame.
Never played Brothers, but i almost cried listening to you explain the swimming mechanic
It's very touching and beautifully delivered trough gameplay!
I’m so glad to see TLOU here. People often label it as a “movie game”, but after watching the HBO show, I had a whole new appreciation for the little interactions during gameplay between Joel and Ellie
Right!? TLOU has a lot of these subtle moments that just didn't translate to the small screen.
It is a movie game 😂
I’ve never understood what the term “movie game” meant with regards to that game at all. It’s such a selectively used term with no clear definition.
Some argue that The Last of Us didn’t embrace the medium at all. But I disagree, and I think it’s actually underrated in what it does well when leveraging the strengths of being a computer game.
Does it borrow heavily from cinema? Yes, but honestly, I like the game a lot better than the HBO show, in terms of writing, structure and most of all, ironically, the performances.
@@EmberbloodIt’s a video game, genius. Look it up maybe 🤡👍.
This video was beautiful - teared up twice, thank you for making it.
A masterfully created 42 minute epic.
Thanks! I'm glad you enjoyed it.
Agreed
So many people misunderstood Last Guardians nuanced controls and AI. They were complaining how hard it was to command him what to do. They entirely missed the point it was like training a pet. Videogames can tell such unique stories and it's a shame people fail to see the special things it's trying to do. Players don't "immerse" themselves. They just grind competitive games.
Good video.
Yeah, it's the commercial aspect of making it fun for as many players as possible vs the artistic vision. Sadly the commercial aspect usually wins, that's why we must cherish the games made by visionaries like Ueda and Taro.
i anticipated the last guardian for years.. it sucked. playing that game was constantly questioning whether it was completely glitched or deliberately not doing anything. my character got stuck in a tree at one point for so long i had to reboot the whole thing. huge tutorial prompts were still popping up in the final minutes of the game. and beyond basic stuff like the game actually working - the narrative was dated and obvious.
@@yeahiagree1070 The boy's controls felt very floaty, no doubt about that. As for the tutorial prompts? Totally unnecessary.
That said, my experience was different. Trico generally listened as long as I didn’t overload it with commands.
Ueda's stories have always been simple, it's the way they are told that make them special.
And that ending? I did not see it coming.
SPOILERS:
I fully thought Trico would die at the end.
@@GameTalesHQ i'm not even talking about interacting with the creature - i mean the game's camera controls barely functioned. the glaring technical issues ruined any potential emotional connection. it's the same narrative as ico - just worse.
What a fantastic video, you've hit the nail on the head of exactly what needs to be highlighted right now. Thank you for putting this together, I will definetely be using it to explain my obsessions in the future to people lmao
Glad you enjoyed it :)
This ending of Nier Automata is probably the only time that a game made me cry with something that wasn't a sad scene, it was at that moment where I realized that this game doesn't work in other media, it needs to be a game, that's the only way the weight of the final decision can be felt
Excellent work my man. Watched a friend play through SotC the other day and they ALMOST didn't grab during the ending. I was thinking "ah that's a shame" but then at the last possible second he grabbed on to the side of the well and held on until he couldn't anymore. Perfection.
Thanks dude, and thanks for bouncing idea's around with me! And yeah, it would be a shame if he didn't grab the ledge, good thing he did :)
I will now offer this video essay to anyone who is passionate about gaming . This just encapsulates the medium perfectly .
@@flyinggraysuns9620 Awesome, thanks for such a lovely compliment!
When I first played Shadow of Colossus on the PS2, I was like, "this isn't a game; this is a piece of art".
I’d highly suggest giving 13 Sentinels: Aegis Rim a try. It’s the epitome of a story that only works in the format of the game and gameplay that only makes sense in the context of the story.
A genuine master class in using gaming as an art form
I like vanillaware as a developer, will have to check that game out in the future.
Team Ico's can't be expressed better in any other form of media other than games. There's something beautifully tranquil and tactile that gives breath to those masterpieces
Ueda's philosophy of design through subtraction has always worked wonders. There is absolutely no fluff in his games. Everything is there for a reason.
Jusant is a great indie game which released in the past year. It's a game basically about climbing. But the controls make you feel like you are experiencing the act of climbing throughout the whole game. It's far different than something like Assassin's Creed games where you simply push single button to automatically scale any surface. With Jusant you have to coordinate your climbing movements with various controller actions. And the game gives a sense of achievement as you progress.
Sounds awesome, added it to my wishlist!
Yeah, Jusant is totally in the line here : direct descendant of Journey, minimalistic and calm as an Ueda game, an eco-fable supported by a beautifully crafted science-fictionnal world.
Less words, more emotions 😇
Fantastic video. Gaming is one of the best art forms out there because of the amount of immersion it is capable of achieving.
Some notable examples I believe also deserve to be included in this discussion are the following:
• Doki Doki Literature Club
• Inscryption
• Lisa: The Painful
• Undertale
• Hotline Miami
• Fear & Hunger
• Before Your Eyes
• What Remains of Edith Finch
• The Stanley Parable
All of these titles break conventions and use video game tropes and expectations to either mess with the player or add to the story / gameplay.
Added them all to the list. I did play Doki Doki, Hotline Miami and Stanley Parable. I didn't care much for Doki but I really liked the other two games.
There's also the layer of meta games like Inscription and Doki Doki that rely on file snooping & manipulation to influence the game directly
I wasn't too impressed by Doki Doki myself, but that's probably because it was hyped up so much online. I haven't played Inscryption yet though!
Doki Doki really gets that aspect once you get into digging into the game files. It's asking a little much (probably intended as a communuty riddle) but makes for nice theory videos.
I remember reading something about Alan Moore’s Watchmen. He said he wanted to write the story in such a way that it could only be properly portrayed in the form of a comic book. I think more games that are designed such that they could only be games will be what truly elevates gaming to the same level as other art forms
I feel like games are already on the same level as other artforms, but there is still is so much untapped potential.
How lucky I am to have stumbled upon this video, it's right up my alley. Your voice is really nice as well.
Your*
Thank you, I'm glad you enjoyed it :)
Amazing video. Thank you so much! I'm still blown away by Soma's ending even though it's been years since I've played it...
I’d like to add the general Xeno-series too, personally speaking.
So much story and world building is done through gameplay and the Unique type of character interactions that usually only happens through the gaming medium.
Also helps that games can be exorbitantly larger and more complex story-wise than most other mediums helps this game series put its best foot forward in every entry.
Dropping in to say, that I've never played nor heard of the Brothers game, but here I am, weeping at the solution to the water "puzzle". That is incredibly powerful. Wow
Yes! I’m always mentioning the twist in Brothers as a great example of how to build drama and storytelling through gameplay, and not cinematics. Journey and Ueda’s games are also already classics examples of this as well.
Great video. Its so weird how we fight the pull in Shadow of the Collosus. Like as a gamer it's clearly progression but as Wanderer I fight it for a while despite knowing its futile before eventually letting go. And I've done this every playthrough. 🤔
Yep, the game does such a great job of aligning the player with the protagonist. Masterful stuff.
Great game, truly.
Journeys mp was so interesting. It was such a welcome surprise when someone would just show up when you were playing. You wouldn't see their name and could only see if you checked your recent players list
You wouldn't even know how long they'd be with you. It was quite poignant
A beautiful title that doesn't lose its power on subsequent playthroughs!
6:53 - it is not just one button press, but the game's actual mechanic. It was not just an arbitrary interaction to trigger the punchline, but the entire gameplay itself building up to it. That's why Brothers is the best video game as an artform to me.
Yep, it's definitely up there as one of the very best.
Brothers A tale of two son...this game and the soundtrack will always stay with me. The emotional journey was too overwhelming
Beautiful video! If you ever do a part 2 I'd like to suggest another beautiful small game called "Before your eyes" which uses blink detection from your webcam as the principal mean of gameplay. I don't want to spoil the story in case you want to play it
Thank you! I haven't heard of that game before, sounds really interesting, added it to my wishlist!
@@GameTalesHQ It is free on Netflix. It's really great game
Sounds up my alley. Any other games?
The Brothers river moment made me sob when I played that game. The single most powerful mechanics-driven story moment I've played.
Hellblade 1 does a fantastic job displaying trauma, schizophrenia, and inner/mental turmoil that would otherwise not work in any other medium
It was a great game, would love to see more of that kind of stuff from the AA scene. That binaural gives me goosebumbs every time.
Maybe its a stretch but I felt this with trying to 100% Fate Samurai Remnant. The game has 3 endings, with the true ending locked behind completing the others with NG+. However the part that stood out to me was the revelations about the main characters personality and motivations that only get shown in NG+, and how I the player felt the same boredom and desire for a true challenge that the MC did, culminating in a bittersweet ending that really drove home the themes.
I don't know the game, but japanese developers seem to include stuff like this more often. Thanks for sharing :)
This was fantastic. I will add that Until Then is another one that fits this so well. I read 100+ books a year, but Until Then is by far the best story I've encountered this year. I have thought about it a lot and it would not have worked as either film or book. It had to be in game form. If you're willing to be patient with a slow burn story and ignore the crappy mini games along the way, I cannot recommend it enough.
Thank you! I just checked out the trailer, looks super interesting. Added it to my wishlist.
@GameTalesHQ awesome! I hope you enjoy it as much as I did.
This perfectly summarizes the Artistic potential of Video Games.
What a video, you left me speechless as well as with the need to talk further about the topic. :)
Hell yeah, that's awesome!
While they certainly don't have the significance of the other moments mentioned in this video, there are 2 really clever uses of the medium in Simon the Sorcerer 3D (You are locked in a room with a couple of other characters and the trick of escaping is trolling one of them until he kills you and you respawn at the savepoint outside the house.) and Pony Island (During a simple text puzzle that requires you to pay attention, you are getting some fake Steam chat pop ups).
Cool stuff! Thanks for letting me know :)
Might play these. Any other recommendations?
@@comradestannis To be honest, StS 3D isn't necessarily a game that I would recommend. The switch to 3D only makes the game look even older with large empty areas and NPCs straight out of Minecraft. The writing sometimes feels so cringe / bad like it is taken from some fanfiction. While you probably already know these 2 games, The Stanley Parable had some very clever moments with the interactive narrator and Undertale is just so much more than a simple game that it has been presented to the Pope as a gift.
17:33 Dishonored has a similar type of player tracking. You can beat the game without killing anyone. And you choosing to kill or not to kill not only determines the ending but it also determines how enemies react to you.
@@barskabdagl7701 True, I love that game! But Dishonored is up front about it's morality system, that's why I didn't mention it here.
Thank you for this video. Gaming is not all about graphics and visual fidelity. Playing tetris or pacman floods us with fun childhood memories.
Fantastic work man, I really loved the longer length to be able to hit more games that have done it well. I also cant find a way to claim that XIII should have been included.
Glad you enjoyed it! XIII is a first person shooter right? I think I saw a video on that game once, it's a game you don't hear many people talk about.
@ yeah it is. You’re not wrong that it’s oft forgotten about. I feel it was a major part of my life for a short sliver of time, and in the moment felt like it could last forever as a series. Now that I’ve gotten older I see that it was just a naive age and one of my first experiences with a “cliff hanger” ending that never got resolved with a sequel.
@@domhanson9167 Those couple of games that were your 'first' will always remain special, even though they're objectively not even that great. So I feel you. Sad that it never got that sequel.
Brothers really got me. Great game. And I know there’s no shortage of people gushing about RDR2 online, but it really shook me to the core. I lived as Arthur, and bonded with members of the gang. It’s a long game, but I think the length is what makes it feel so personal and epic. A tv series can be long, but doesn’t hit in the same way a game does. The Last of Us also starts the game with the player controlling Sarah. It just hits that much harder when she dies. I love video games. lol. Great video!
RDR2 is an amazing title for sure! And yeah TLOU does some cool character switches, just like the winter section with Ellie. And thanks alot :)
Not sure if IMMORTALITY meets your criteria for fully embracing the medium, but this video reminded me of it
I'd wager that fully embracing the medium is being more branching instead of cinematic. Thus, story generators like Kenshi are the "gamiest games" imho where each player will experience a completely different story unfold: something only a game can provide.
I haven't played it yet, looks super interesting!
@@Odisseia-hh2td This video was more focussed on more traditionally narrative driven games, but for sure; Kenshi is a true sandbox.
What's the game about?
Video was well worth the wait! It's amazing how the medium of videogames allow for these truly unique and engaging moments.
Thanks mate!
Incredible video, made me remember inFamous 2 which has a similar thing to The Last of Us & Shadow of the Colossus, though it is more simple and straightforward. In the ending (i believe only the good ending, i am not sure, since it's been a while since i played it, because it's stuck on the PS3) it takes a game mechanic you use throughout the story to upgrade your powers - charging a sort of tool with electricity, and adds a very humane twist to it. It is the the last action you make in the game and makes the controller literally become the symbol of the medium, connecting the player to the game and fully immersing you in it. A very simple thing, but one that can stick with you and turn an overall mediocre game to a good game, to something better. Totally worth playing it through yourself, just for the ending alone
Thank you! I'll keep inFamous 2 in mind :)
Well… I’m subscribed now lol
Unreal work in the video. So well done, G ❤
Thanks broski!
Having played most of the games featured in the video, been through various emotions these games elicit, this video made me feel the same emotions over again.
i remember i got journey for free during some holiday sale on the playstation 4 and being stuck at one point just for another person to pop up for the first time in my playthrough and go through it like they've done it before, and during the last few sequences going through them all with another person. it really was a magic experience like no other. also this made me really want to play more games so i'm looking through the timeline avoiding spoilers and noting them to see which game i'll play next
@@YellowNotThe Awesome, all of them are worth playing!
Bloody loved road 96! So happy to see praise for an amazing and underrated game ❤
Fantastic video and could not agree more on the choices here. It’s so refreshing to come across a video on TH-cam that celebrates games as opposed to the constant rage baiting and grifting that you see all too often these days in the gaming TH-cam sphere. Great video, you earned a like and a subscription from me.
Hell yeah! The negativity is becoming way too common. While there are definitely things that need improving, they make it seem like there's nothing left to celebrate anymore.
Dragon Quest 11 is also one of these games, i think.
Spoilers Below
in act 2 one of two twins dies. And in her death her powers move to the other twin's skill tree. The living twin becomes incredibly strong, but also carries the resolve of her twin to finish the quest they started out on. I think this detail made the weight of her death in the player's eyes to have some finality to it. I am one of the people who played the game who thinks that Act 2 should have been the end of the game, because everything felt very complete and final.
beautiful video, I loved watching it and hearing your insights
I'm surprised you didn't talk about Part II. I felt that was more innovative than Part I because II actively challenges the player with perspective.
@@deadredveloz242 I debated putting it on the list, but I didn't want to make it any longer. I personally really liked the work bench jumpscare in pt2!
Great video, was invested every minute 👏
Hell yeah, thanks!
Beautiful video. Truly, truly beautiful.
I started playing Nier yestarday, had bad first impressions but decided I'll keep playing it. In the evening your video showed up (watched it up to the spoiler warning) and now I'm determined to beat Nier. I do have to say that voice acting and over the top emotional robot sounds really put me off..
As for the game mechanics that change the game, one light version of it is in Ace Combat Zero. Depending on if you let damaged enemies escape you get points to fill a style gauge, you are shown this gauge after each mission and it goes from Mercenary - Soldier - Knight and you start in the middle. Every few missions you get something like a boss fight and different style gives you different enemies, and beating the enemy unlocks their aircraft in the shop.
And as for your video, it's an amazing mini documentary, I hope you keep doing stuff like this, I was immersed from start to finish!
Definitely continue playing NieR, I also don't like the typical over the top anime stuff but this game is really worth it man.
The Ace Combat thing is really cool, thanks for sharing that.
Ahh, glad you liked it, immersion was the thing I was going for :)
@GameTalesHQ the game has only 2 anime moments total. Both involving adam it eve and 9S.
1st with Adam taunting 2B and laughing at her as they get ready to fight, and 2nd when 9S and eve have an anime style power clash with their large fists made of scrap complete with yelling.
This totals less than 10 seconds of the game. It is a non issue.
@@TrevorVeillette It also has smaller moments, but I personally don't mind when the story is great.
@GameTalesHQ the smaller moments add a ton to the experience. Its what builds the characters and world, before the big moments use that to hurt you
@@TrevorVeillette Oh for sure, I just meant the anime-isms. You know, the melodramatics, the explicitly saying your emotions instead of showing them etc. It's something I had to get used to. I eventually did :)
Didn't know about Nier Automata ending as I have never played it, but it sounds exactly like humanity most basic sacrifice: be saved and save others, even at the cost of our own life. It's like helping our parents when they get old, after everything they sacrificed for us, and us sacrificing for our children. Sacrifice is one of the most inspiring moves. And maybe, it's the reason why Warhammer 40k is not as crazy as it sounds in a futuristic intergalactic permanent war situation where people helps each other with anything to lose except its species.
Yes, when games can tap into these universal and human themes, they can be really powerful.
Amazing video really enjoyed this! 💜
Yoko taro is my favorite game director, or director in general, till 2020 ive never had played NieR Automata, and ive decided to give it a chance, without any expectation bc ive never seem a lot abt it, but man, its the game of my life
So glad to see Nier: Automata here, a story that could really only be told through a video game. Probably the best example I've seen of games that fully embrace the medium.
Yep, it was the game that inspired me to make the video in the first place!
I think Halo Reach's final mission objective is also a good example.
The World Tendancy system in Demon's Souls is a mechanic that subverts game design, feels right at home here.
Pathologic 1 and 2 and The Void are pitch perfect games for this type of list. In addition, I would also say Disco Elysium, Majora's Mask, Alan Wake 2, maybe Inscryption.
Pathalogic and Disco Elysium are high on my 'to play' list. Will take a look a the others as well!
@GameTalesHQ Disco Elysium is one where 10 different players will have 10 totally different experiences, the amount of ways to approach the game is near-unmatched, your choices and skills all actually matter down to the tiniest details. It might be the best game I've played, up there with Bloodborne, NieR Automata and Outer Wilds for sure.
Pathologic 2 is another masterpiece, it's THE perfect synchronization of gameplay with storytelling and mood for me. Same with The Void, from the same developers. Ice Pick Lodge has the philosophy about game design that not all games need to be "fun" just as not all movies/music/books etc need to be "fun". Stress and negative emotions are all used as intentional storytelling and gameplay devices in their games and I love it.
@@TheRodriguezFilms Love the philosophy of Ice Pick Lodge. The way you describe all the games sound right up my alley.
@GameTalesHQ They're definitely one of the few studios that really understands the strengths and weaknesses of the medium and wants to push it forward. Also Pathologic 2 is essentially a vastly improved remake of Pathologic 1 with another entry coming next year to expand on it, I'd just play Patho 2 (and The Void too) and only try Patho 1 if you become obsessed and want more haha
amazing content man! subscribed
Glad you enjoyed it :)
Final Fantasy VII, with Sepbiroth dealing 4000 dmg with a hit during the flashback, so you can see his legendary strength when you barely make about 100 damage, or when your limit break is filled when "somebody" dies.
Amen. So many moments were made better because it was a game. The way Cloud is always telling everyone how to do stuff. The way everyone relies on him for truth. The midgar zolom. The way a tiny little secret nook in the game reveals that even what Sephorith believes about himself isn’t actually 100% true. Omnislash at the end! The date :) the way the characters stories hit harder because they are with you and you are an active participant in the story. Unlike tv where you watch and don’t participate. In games you participate. And that changes what you can do a lot. While sotc, soulsborne, hellblade etc are obvious choices; FF has a lot of great examples of video games that just wouldn’t quite be the same as a movie or show.
That’s a very positive video
Most people saying we reached the plateau, but would rather believe gaming is still evolving and still young
Yep, I feel like gaming TH-cam is overly negative at the moment. I truly believe the best is yet to come!
Great video! Got inspired to get some games from that list. 😅
I keep noticing in your videos Spec Ops: The line, on the surface it seems like something I wouldnt care about it, but this video made me really interested to give it a try.
@@notsocasualYT Thank you! Spec Ops is a very deep game disguised as something entirely different, highly recommend it.
It's an anti-war game too.
Love this video and this channel. Thank you mate. Subscribed.
@@YTPremiumWatch Glad to have ya!
why the absolute hell aint dark souls here. Thats literally the game i think of whenever i hear any sentence along those lines. Will note down some of these games because games like these are my favorite games.
I already had Bloodborne in the line-up, and the video was already 42 minutes long. But yeah, DS1 definitely fits right in!
Mass Effect not being here stings a bit but I do get the list you've made nonetheless, great vid!
@@aarontebelin9815 RPGs in general fit the description nicely. But I didn't want to flood this list with them.
@@GameTalesHQ I totally get it! ❤️
Maaan, had to skip a lot due to spoilers, but, man, awesome vid !
@@DeveshIndulkar Thank you!
Fantastic Analysis.
To this day, SOMA continues to fuck with my existentialism...
SOMA had some incredible writing, especially for a video game.
Original God of War 2 with the Spartan character kill, and Far Cry 2 and 3 back when that franchise was any good.
Incredible video dude. I've never played Neir: Automata, but that ending was mind blowing.
Have you played Control? I don't have the right words, but it is a very video game video game. It's fun.
Thanks man! I've got Control in my steam library, I've yet to play it though.
TLOU is just so brilliant, and then 2 comes along and rips your soul out and reminds you of the world WE live in. A thin line between being neighbors and enemies when supplies are scarce, trust is hard to come by.
Tru
I think Rain World is a pretty good one. The game doesn't hold your hand and while it has a story, it's up to you to go out of your way to find it. Not to mention its dynamic AI ecosystem that you're also apart of, and while the creature you play as is a pretty damn intelligent species, the game makes you quickly realize that you're nowhere near the top of the foodchain. You and the AI are all just animals trying to survive and at times it feels frustratingly brutal. Sometimes you aren't quite agile enough and get snapped up by a lizard, only for it to drop you when another lizard comes along and starts a fight wanting to make you its next meal as well, and... oh shit, you're still alive, time to make a getaway while they're distracted! The game is subtle about communicating when you're for sure done for, so accidentally nudging my joystick and seeing my slugcat's eyes pop back open the first time was such a fun revelation to me.
I've seen it recommended a couple of times, it's on my wishlist for sure!
Great video!
I appreciate it!
This is the most epic shit ever. Great video blud
Thanks for the epic comment
Another game thay deserves to be here is definitely death strandung. It is a game about maaking connection not just in the story but the gameplay aswell as players place tools and items that help other players a lot and you can also like these items that are placed by the community of this game and you feel a connection with the players that you are connected with them through an 'strand'
Edit: i know there is a lot of spelling mistakes but that is because my fingers are made out of butter😭
Will definitely play it, seems really interesting!
Amazing video brother!
Thanks, I appreciate it!
Yes a new video! Can't wait
I hope you enjoy it :)
@@GameTalesHQ And I was NOT disappointed. Made me reminisce about my playthroughs, shed a tear for games I've never played or witnessed before and made me look deeper into the meaning of certain systems of games. Such a great video. I was here in the trenches, can't wait to see you reach 1 million subs one day. The sky isn't the limit, it's just the beginning!
@@Tempuslight Thank you for the lovely comment, I truly appreciate it!
BioShock is a game that does the same system as Metro 2033. If you save every little sister, you will get the good ending, but if you take any adam from any of them, it will result in the bad ending
True, but Bioshock was more up front about it. It was pretty obvious that you were making a choice. I liked Bioshock for its world building and its twists but I wasn't the biggest fan of the way the game handled that morality system and ending.
Great video, bud.
My pleasure!
Hey Man i seriously love your Videos but I have a kind one request. Can you make a video on American McGee's Alice. Please 🙏🏽
I've only played it once at a friends house back in the day. I'll keep it in mind!
@@GameTalesHQ Don't you forget about it ❤🩹
last guardian got me tearing up
Spec ops the line is a game that will stay with u and make u think twice about being the hero
It's up there with my favorite games of all time.
YES!!!
Greatness start with selfawerness.
Note to self: watch this plz, this is the good shit
Outer wilds mentioned!😄
In my restless dream, i see that town... silent hill
@@slenderman4946 Her voice actress did such an amazing job!
@GameTalesHQ oh you played the remake?
@@slenderman4946 Nope, just the original. I saw some scenes from the remake and I think I prefer that voice cast except for Mary. That original performance was perfect.
@@GameTalesHQ i hope you play it. They did a remarkable job with the remake
@@slenderman4946 I will definitely play it, just waiting for a sale at the moment!
No game uses its interactivity to develop its characters and character relationships in such intimate and subtle ways as TLOU Part 1, Part 2, and RDR 2.
I loved the work bench jumpscare in TLOU 2, I almost put it in this video but it was already too long haha
Shadow of the Colossus will always hold a special place within these masterpieces ✨
I'd say it's probably Ueda's best game, although I think The Last Guardian is his most artistic work.
@@GameTalesHQ SotC is certainly the most epic and the one that totally changed my life as a player. I love The Last Guardian for how it pushes the limits of what a video game can be... But to be honest, ICO is the purest of them : the original gem that opened a window in our screens.
@@AZAMA___ It definitely had the biggest impact on gaming as a whole, such a beautiful title!
The Stanley Parable shouldve had a mention imo.
Very good pick, definitely belongs in the video but it was already 42 minutes, so I had to scrap a couple.
Man I so miss Japan Studio
Stanley Parable was also a great game that had to have been a game.
Great pick!
Nier Automata is just special man
had to skip half the video because of spoilers, but it was still good
@@reco7234 Yeah, it's spoiler heavy. Hopefully you got some good recommendations out of it!
God wat heb ik gejankt als een baby toen ik besefte dat ik mijn Trico, mijn maatje, moest wegsturen. De moeilijkste buttonpress ever.
Dat was de eerdere frustratie zeker wel waard!
@@GameTalesHQ Ik weet dat deze video niet ging over games met meerdere endings (good ending - bad ending) maar toch moest ik even denken aan de game Tunic. Ik denk dat Tunic ook een soort plek heeft in het thema van deze video (weet niet of je het gespeeld hebt). Hoe ik het zie: Tunic beroept zich op een soort meta-bewustzijn van de speler, door de toevoeging van het nostalgische "boekje". Zo wordt je blijvend herinnerd aan het feit dat je een game speelt. Maar (SPOILER) zonder het boekje (en dus het bewustzijn "it's all a videogame") kun je het goede einde niet unlocken. Speaking of embracing the medium :)
@@elmoo88 Ik heb Tunic nog niet gespeeld, maar hij was al wel op mijn radar. Ik vind het altijd erg gaaf als meta elementen goed worden toegepast. Ik heb niet verder gelezen dan je spoiler waarschuwing, maar de game staat op m'n steam wishlist :)
SOMA is so underrated